The Day You Come to Me
by Adarian Dreamer
Summary: When Syaoran has to return to Hong Kong once again, he decides to make the most of his last day with Sakura, but can he promise her something more than just to come back to Tomoeda soon? SS Oneshot. A direction continuation of the second movie. Please R


**The Day You Come to Me**

**Disclaimer**: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to CLAMP, Kodansha, and other respective companies.

**Note**: This is my first fanfic for my most favorite anime, Cardcaptor Sakura, so I know it's that great, but please check it out. I decided to make it a tribute to my favorite anime couple, Syaoran and Sakura, so I hope you all enjoy it. This is a direction continuation of the second movie and picks up just where CCS ended. Sakura has just sealed the Void Card into the Hope Card, and Sakura's future continues to shine brighter…

"I love you!" Sakura yelled exceedingly cheerfully as she jumped into Syaoran's arms from across the gap in the platform inside the clock tower separating him from her.

A smiled glistened across Syaoran's face as he caught the magical girl in arms. It was the girl that had been in his dreams even before the moment he first saw her, and this was the moment that he had waited his whole life for. Only a few gentle words of warm sincerity managed to form through the ecstasy of his vocal cords. "I love you, too, Sakura," he whispered into her ear as he embraced her tightly.

Sakura smiled as the two prolonged their embrace timelessly as the world around them briefly stood still, but everything soon started to return to its constant route. The gaps in the clock tower were beginning to fill into place, and the rest of Tomoeda was beginning to gradually return.

The couple finally returned to reality when Sakura slowly pulled away from the embrace and glanced at the view of the rest of Tomoeda from the tower. "Syaoran-kun, it looks like the festival is still going on," she said looking back at him with a warm smile, "we can go have some more fun together!"

Syaoran gave Sakura an assuring nod before briefly watching the rising sun shine over the newly awakened city. It was another day, but this would his last full day in the place he grew to love at least for a while.

His silence concerned Sakura as she soon realized the dilemma he faced. "It's already been eight years since you got here, hasn't it? Can you stay here a little longer?"

"The last return flight to Hong Kong is tomorrow morning," Syaoran spoke in a tone of slight anguish, "I'm sorry, I really I wish I could stay here with you a lot longer."

"I wish you could, too! There's still so much to do! We didn't even finish the play or anything," Sakura said, grasping Syaoran tenderly by the arm as a newly formed smile soon brightened Sakura's face, "but if you could spend your last day here with me, I'm sure we'll have the best day of our lives!"

"I don't want to lose sight of you for a second today," Syaoran turned closer towards Sakura and spoke softly into Sakura's ear, "this is a new beginning for us. I promise I won't ever again take a single moment with you for granted. Your beautiful smile, your kind words, and your caring personality … they're all the things I love most in this world."

"Arigatou," Sakura uttered sweetly as she felt her blush deepening as she leaned into Syaoran's shoulder to embrace him tighter.

Syaoran turned extremely red as he saw Sakura pulling in for a kiss. Syaoran closed his eyes and awaited something he had only dreamed about. Sakura was turning even redder as the meeting of their lips now seemed inevitable – "Hey, Sakura!"

Syaoran turned pale white and nearly fell out the tower's window as Sakura fell backwards in the opposite direction, too stunned to yell out anything more than "HOE!" in surprise at the untimely sound of her brother's voice.

Syaoran and Sakura picked themselves up as Tomoyo was the first to enter the tower. She looked up and waved to Syaoran and Sakura at the top.

"Sakura-chan! Li-kun! Are you all right?" Tomoyo yelled from down below as Meiling, Touya, and Yukito soon followed her.

"Yeah, I'm all right!" Sakura answered waving down to Tomoyo, "it's all thanks to Syaoran-kun!"

Syaoran felt his face reddening as he looked at Sakura who was smiling straight at him. "I didn't really do anything," Syaoran pleaded nervously.

"Hmph … hey kid!" Touya barked from the ground.

Syaoran raised an eyebrow as the haunting thought of Touya becoming his future brother-in-law forced a frightening expression onto his face.

"Sakura had better be all right! Get her down from there!" Touya yelled as Yukito shook his head, partially in disapproval of Touya's discourtesy and partially in amusement.

"Onii-chan! I'm all right! Don't be so mean to Syaoran-kun. We'll be down right away!" Sakura reassured her overprotective brother as she reached into her deck of Sakura cards, "are you ready, Syaoran-kun?"

Syaoran nodded as Sakura then called out her magic. "FLY!" she yelled as wings formed on her back, "come on, grab hold!"

Syaoran blushed as Sakura held out her arms in front of him, and he smiled warmly as he embraced Sakura once again. Sakura slowly descended down to ground level in between Tomoyo and Meiling and was greeted by their praise.

"You did it, Kinomoto-san! You got the last card!" Meiling commended Sakura with a smile of approval.

"Nothing less from Sakura-chan," Tomoyo and Yukito added in unison.

"So, that's the last Clow Card, huh?" Touya commented as he gave Syaoran an evil glare, telling to him to let go of Sakura.

"So you really knew about the cards, onii-chan?" Sakura asked as the fly card's magic faded off of her back but Syaoran's grasp grew tighter as he shot Touya back a retaliation glare.

"I had a general idea," Touya answered with his eyes still glaring into Syaoran's.

The group was suddenly startled by the soft screams and bursts of fireworks shooting overhead. The sound of large crowds still flooded the streets of Tomoeda, and a sizeable audience still sat in front of the stage on the Tomoeda plaza.

"I guess the Nadeshiko Festival is working overtime this year," Touya remarked as he looked at the activity around Tomoeda.

"Yeah, I heard since it's still the middle of summer that the festival might run an extra day. Maybe we should get back to the ice cream parlor," Yukito suggested, "with a crowd, they'll definitely need a few extra hands to help out."

"Will you be able to watch our class's performance?" asked Sakura before the two teenagers left.

Yukito turned back to face Sakura. "Are you going to continue play?"

"I don't know if we'll want to start from the beginning again, but I'm sure our classmate Naoko-chan has something good planned," Tomoyo responded after Sakura appeared to not have an answer.

"We'll definitely stop by for it then. Right, Touya?" Yukito said, gently elbowing Touya on the side.

"Hai… hai… we'll see you later, Sakura." Touya waved as he and Yukito took off for the ice cream parlor.

Sakura, Tomoyo, Meiling, and Syaoran waved to the two departing teenagers as more fireworks continued to shoot overhead.

"We should get back to the plaza. I wonder if they're ready to resume the play," Meiling suggested.

Sakura nodded as the genki sparkle returned to her eyes as she grabbed Syaoran's hand and led him towards the plaza by Tomoeda Elementary, "Come on, let's go!"

------

After Syaoran and Sakura changed out of their battle costumes, they strolled alongside Tomoyo and Meiling down Tomoeda. Tomoyo and Syaoran soon linked their hands on opposites sides of Sakura as they marveled at the city's excitement as they passed through downtown Tomoeda. Floating cherry blossoms and shimmering fireworks filled the bright morning sky above them. With both hands being held by true friends who really loved her, Sakura smiled blissfully as she felt her cheerfulness return in full force for the first time in months.

"Sakura-chan! Tomoyo-chan! Li-kun! Meiling-chan!" Naoko yelled as she greeted the foursome arriving at the plaza.

"Ohayo, Naoko-chan," Sakura replied, "are we still going to finish the play."

"Well, last night, the set and stage lights were damaged badly, so I don't think we'll able to finish it," Naoko replied somewhat grimly, "but we should still do something in place of the play for the audience."

"I think I may have a solution," Tomoyo spoke up after several moments of bleak silence, placing a hand underneath her chin, "we could show a video from all the times I've recorded Sakura!"

Naoko's expression became confused as Syaoran and Meiling sweatdropped, and Sakura let out a soft "hoe" in embarrassment although she knew Tomoyo was only joking.

"Um… I think they would much more appreciate a song by you, Daidouji," Syaoran pleaded.

"Sakura-chan!" Rika and Chiharu both called out at the same time as they approached the group.

"You were great as the princess last night," Rika complimented her, "it's too bad we had a problem with the lights."

"The lights?" Sakura said to herself, realizing how the others remembered the effects of the Void Card.

"You were great as the prince, too, Li-kun," Rika said, turning to Syaoran.

"Arigatou," Syaoran uttered softly, "but I don't know if we'll have anything to present for tonight."

"Leave that to me." Tomoyo's answer was followed by her trademark refined "ohohohoho" giggle.

"Hoe…" Sakura uttered as a sweatdrop slid down the back of her head, afraid Tomoyo's presentation undoubtedly involved her in some way or another.

"You're not going to show anything a little too … revealing, Daidouji-san?" Meiling whispered into Tomoyo's ear.

"Trust me," Tomoyo whispered back, "this will be one of the best movies you've ever seen."

"What are you two whispering about?" Chiharu asked, "we can worry about the stand-in presentation later. Let's go enjoy the festival! It only happens once a year, after all."

Yamazaki, with his arm still in a cast, had soon appeared behind Chiharu. "Hey, everyone, did you know that back in the Edo Era whenever a play had to be cancelled for whatever reason, the two actors who played the leading roles were forced to entertain the audience by having a kendo duel? The duel usually lasted several days into the extreme hot or cold weather…"

"Hai, hai!" Chiharu dragged Yamazaki off as the others looked on with sweatdrops.

"Well, shall we go?" Meiling asked the group, "the festival's only going to get busier the longer we wait."

"Yeah!" Sakura said cheerfully as she grabbed Syaoran's hand again and led the group towards the center of festivities.

------

"Wait up, Kinomoto-san!" Meiling yelled, out of breath from running, as the whole group finally caught up with her and a dizzily dragged Syaoran in the middle of town.

Sakura stopped running and let out a nervous laugh as she realized everyone's fatigue. "Gomen, I guess I can run faster and everything now that I sealed away so much magical power," she whispered to Syaoran and Meiling.

Tomoyo overheard Sakura and smiled, happy for Sakura's constantly improving powers. She then turned to Rika, Naoko, Chiharu, and Yamazaki. "There really is a lot to do here. Shall we go to the ice cream parlor first?"

"Sure, it's pretty hot for this early in the morning," Chiharu remarked as the scorching summer weather proved to be the only shortcoming to an otherwise perfect setting to the festival.

Yamazaki was quick to raise a finger on his healthy arm. "You know in the Meiji Era, whenever it was really hot outside they used to-"

Chiharu was quick to cut off Yamazaki, "You know what they did to liars in the Muromachi Period?"

Yamazaki kept his eyes squinted tightly and his blank expression never changed. "What did they do?" he asked innocently.

"Let me demonstrate," Chiharu said with hint of warm laughter in her voice as she proceeded to playfully strangle Yamazaki.

"Maybe we should leave them alone," Sakura commented with a nervous laugh as Naoko and Rika nodded in agreement, "I guess I'll go get us some ice cream. I'll bring it all back to you guys," Sakura said as she began to run off towards the ice cream shop but was halted by a warm hand placed on her shoulder.

"Wait, I'll go with you. It'll be hard to carry all that back here by yourself," Syaoran told her with a hint of smile in his eyes.

"Arigatou, Syaoran-kun," Sakura said with a sweet smile, instantly causing a slight blush to form on Syaoran's face.

Syaoran's blush deepened as Sakura once again placed her hand in his as the two walked into the parlor. It was still before noon, so the line was fairly short, and it was soon Sakura and Syaoran's turn to approach the front.

"How can I help you?" Touya said monotonously from behind the counter without even looking up at the customers, but Yukito stood behind him and waved to Sakura and Syaoran.

"Onii-chan, how long are you and Yukito working here today?" Sakura asked with her hand still holding Syaoran's.

"Some of our classmates are coming by in a little while to take over," Touya's tone suddenly lost its calmness when he looked Sakura's way, "why are you holding hands with that twerp!"

"Just give us eight orders, please," Syaoran grumbled as he glared fiercely at Touya.

After Touya reluctantly completed the order after Syaoran separated himself from Sakura, the two former cardcaptors delivered the cold sweets back to their classmates. Everyone was seated a large table in the park when Sakura put down a bowl for herself and all the other members of the group and sat down in between Tomoyo and Syaoran, finally ready to treat herself after the errand.

"Hoe? It's all gone," Sakura uttered softly to herself as she picked up the empty bowl in confusion.

Tomoyo overheard her and soon felt something soft by her feet underneath the table. "I think I may have found the cause of that," Tomoyo whispered as she pointed to a winged bear like creature munching on the last of a white piece of vanilla ice cream.

"Kero-chan…" Sakura said quietly, careful not to reveal him to Rika, Naoko, Chiharu, and Yamazaki.

Syaoran overheard her and saw her concerned expression. He knew exactly what the missing ice cream meant. "Hey, there's a better view of the fireworks from over there. They're going to have another display pretty soon, so can we all move over there?" he asked as he pointed towards an empty table on higher ground.

"Sure, Syaoran," Meiling said as the others agreed and stood up.

Syaoran nodded to Sakura as he led the others to the new table to buy her some privacy. Tomoyo stayed behind with Sakura and picked up Kero who was still finishing the ice cream.

"Kero-chan, when did you get here?" Sakura asked as he swallowed the last of the ice cream.

"I slipped into your bag when you came into the ice cream parlor. Yukito and your big brother gave me a lot of ice cream. Oh, and sorry about eating all of yours. I kind of got carried away again," Kero said, nervously putting a hand behind his head in guilt.

"That's okay, Kero-chan. You can some of mine, Sakura-chan," Tomoyo reassured them.

"Arigatou, Tomoyo-chan," Sakura thanked her best friend whose kindness never failed to come through.

"Hey, Sakura-chan! Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura and Tomoyo could hear Rika and Naoko's voices calling them from the table, "the fireworks are starting!"

"Hai!" Sakura and Tomoyo both called out.

Sakura shoved Kero forcefully back into her bag as she and Tomoyo ran to join the others at the table just in time for the fireworks. A soft feeling of wonder spread across the group as they watched the illuminating rays of the vivid fireworks shine brightly even through the broad daylight. Syaoran smiled slightly as he looked up at the stunning display, but a more beautiful sight soon caught his eye.

"Sugoi!" Sakura yelled cheerfully as the others soon voiced their agreement. The reflection from the radiance of the fireworks shone down on Sakura's already bright face from her beautiful smile.

Syaoran felt his face turning red when he realized his eyes were glued to hers. Inwardly, he prayed that she would not notice and would keep her eyes on the fireworks, but she felt his gaze. They blushed fiercely as they realized their eyes were locked onto each other. Syaoran knew he had to do something to ease the tension, so in a moment of courage, he moved his hand under the table and grasped Sakura's. Sakura felt the intense heat of her blushes relieve itself into a pleasant warmness as she saw Syaoran smiling back at her as the display's finale sounded off above them. The rest of the group was transfixed on the last fireworks that lit up the sky with sparks of red and pink illumination, resembling floating cherry blossoms in the sky that even Kero peaked his head out to see.

Everyone applauded the wonderful display, and after the group finished their ice cream and conversations, Meiling was ready for more.

"Hey, how about we check out what's going on in the festival now?" Meiling proposed as she abruptly stood up.

"It's already past noon. Naoko-chan and I have music lessons pretty soon. Sorry," a disappointed Rika announced.

"No, it's okay," Meiling assured her, "we'll see you tonight for the special presentation though, right?"

"Yeah, we'll definitely be there," Rika said as she and Naoko waved goodbye to the others.

"Takashi-kun and I promised to help out at the Twin Bells today, so I'm afraid we have to go, too," Chiharu said solemnly.

Sakura, Tomoyo, Meiling, and Syaoran all waved goodbye as Rika, Naoko, Chiharu, and Takashi left them.

"Well, it's just us now," Meiling said as she smiled at the rest of the original cardcaptoring group, "I think I'm going to miss these days when the four of us hang out."

The other three all nodded in accord, reminiscing for a few moments of the fantastic journey they all went through that defied all logic and common sense before Sakura remembered that this could be her last day in a while with Syaoran and Meiling, and she was not about to waste a minute of it.

"Well, do you guys want to go enjoy the festival now?" Sakura asked, eager to spend some more quality time with her friends.

Tomoyo and Meiling nodded as Syaoran gave her another warm smile. The foursome soon found themselves on the run once again as they strolled into downtown Tomoeda for the afternoon festivities. They arrived at the height of the activities with everything in place. Kero was busy secretly eating at all the food stands while Tomoyo dreamily filmed Sakura and Meiling's light conversation with each other and Syaoran tirelessly attempted to win Sakura a stuffed rabbit at a shooting game. Late from work, Yukito and Touya soon joined the group, and after several hours of enjoying games and rides, the afternoon in Tomoeda turned into an evening. As the jurisdiction of light turned from sun to moon, the six companions sat around a table together in view of the sunset. Syaoran then hurried back to the game booths one last time in a desperate attempt to win something for Sakura, and Tomoyo, with Kero sleeping in her hair, rose from her chair soon after.

"If you'll excuse me, I have some last minute editing to do before we show the presentation tonight. You should all get to plaza pretty soon, too," Tomoyo said as their class's show time was less than two hours away.

"We'll see you later then, Tomoyo-chan," Sakura bowed to her best friend as the others waved goodbye to her.

"I think you guys should go, too, once that kid gets back here from wherever he went," Touya said looking into the crowd, wondering where Syaoran went.

"He said there was something that he really wanted to do, but he didn't tell me what it was," said Sakura, starting to get worried.

"Well, there he is now!" Meiling called out as he saw Syaoran running toward with most of himself obscured by the large stuffed rabbit he was holding.

"Sakura, I wanted to get this…for you," he said, giving her a bunny that was much larger than Kero-chan.

Sakura smiled cheerfully as she hugged it. "Wai! Arigatou gozaimasu!"

Yukito laughed to himself as he saw Touya make a grouchy face. "Well, I guess we should head out then. Touya and I will come by the plaza to see the presentation in about two hours. Mata ne," Yukito said as he and Touya waved goodbye before leaving.

Soon after the two teenagers left, Meiling stood up as well. "I'm going to go see if Daidouji-san needs any help with the editing. She's probably editing the video right now at school, so I'll see you there."

It was by no mistake that Meiling left Sakura and Syaoran all by themselves. She had sensed that Sakura had finally told him how she felt, but it seemed like they still needed some more time alone together.

"Syaoran-kun…" Sakura spoke to break the silence.

"Nani?" Syaoran said, turning his eyes to Sakura.

"I wanted to ask you something," Sakura said in a clear, sincere tone of voice, "we once said that we fell in love with Yukito-san at first sight, and everyone says that they fell in love with their ichiban the first time they saw them, but…"

"We did the opposite, I suppose," Syaoran softly interrupted her, "but to tell you the truth, I don't really believe in love at first sight."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, slightly surprised by his response.

"I don't think that people can truly in love with each other quite that easily. I think you have to know a lot about a person to really fall in love with them. I believe in love at first chance, and at first, I didn't really give myself a chance to fall in love with you because I was too busy thinking about myself and increasing my magical powers."

"That's not true. At first, I was naïve, and I understand why you—"

Syaoran cut Sakura short again. "No, it was the light from your kind optimism and your smiles that brightened the dark gloominess of my heart. You opened my eyes to what was really important in this world – love."

"Syaoran-kun…" Sakura felt herself become speechless by Syaoran's openness of his inner kindness. She approached him and wrapped her arms around him as the two of them enjoyed another timeless moment outside of reality.

"We should get back now," Syaoran finally said, "Daidouji's presentation will be in a couple hours from now, so you should stop at your home for a while. Your dad must be worried because you haven't been home all day. I'll see you at the plaza."

Sakura nodded as they ended their embrace and began to walk back towards the Tomoeda plaza.

------

Preparations for the movie presentation were coming along nicely, and Tomoyo's excitement continued to rise as she thought about her film-directing debut as she made the final adjustments in the editing room at her school.

"How's it all coming?" Kero asked, hovering behind Tomoyo, who was editing some film on a computer.

"Very well. I just have the final scene to edit," Tomoyo said as she continued her diligent work.

"Okay," Kero said as he looked at the computer screen, "woah! Where did you that footage from?" Kero asked with his eyes widened by Tomoyo's latest recording.

"I have my ways," Tomoyo said, followed by a shrill "ohohohoho" laugh.

------

As the night wore on, the show time had arrived, but unfortunately, the two starts of the movie were yet to arrive.

"I wonder where Sakura and Syaoran are," Tomoyo thought out loud as she took a peek at the audience from behind the stage's curtain after not being able to find either of them backstage.

"I guess they both have a habit of being late," Kero reassured Tomoyo, popping up from out of her hair.

The seats in front of the plaza were filled for the second night in a row. Excitement started to turn into nervousness for Tomoyo as her world of extraordinary filming was about to be unleashed onto the public for the first time. And once again, one of the last remaining seats in the audience was filled by a friendly latecomer.

"Pardon me," Fujitaka whispered as he again passed through a row and again sat beside Sonomi.

"Kinomoto-sensei?" Sonomi said, slightly annoyed by the amount of time she was spending with him recently, "late again?"

"Konbanwa, Sonomi-san," Fujitaka replied politely, "I came here on short notice because Sakura-san just told me that her class was performing again tonight."

"The festival is still pretty active considering that it's going an extra day this year, which doesn't happen often, so I can't blame the kids for spending almost the whole day at it."

Fujitaka nodded before he noticed something was missing. "Oh, Sonomi-san, where is your camera crew tonight?"

"I didn't need them here because they're showing a movie," Sonomi answered coolly.

"A movie? That sounds interesting," Fujitaka said as the lights around the stage dimmed, "I wonder who the lead roles are."

A large protector screen hanging from the top of the stage was rolled down in front of the audience as Tomoyo made the announcement on the loudspeaker. "And now, Tomoeda Elementary Grade Six, Class Two will present the featured production."

"Sorry I'm late," Sakura said, quietly entering the backstage room.

"You're just in time for the show," Rika reassured her.

"Yokatta," Sakura said, letting out a small sigh of relief before turning her attention elsewhere, "have you seen Tomoyo-chan?"

"She's in the media room right now. She's going to operate the presentation. She said she didn't need any help with it and even had her mom save the entire back row of seats, so that we could go out and watch the movie," Rika notified Sakura.

------

The lights were dimmed as the show was about to begin. A feeling of curiosity and anticipation of seeing what Tomoyo had in store for everyone was overshadowed by Sakura's feeling of concern. Meiling, Rika, Naoko, Chiharu, and the rest of her classmates sat on her right, but the seat on her left was still empty. Relief finally came to her when she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Sorry, I'm late, Sakura," Syaoran whispered as he took the seat next to her, "there was something I had to take care of."

"It's okay," Sakura assured him, "it's just about to start."

The movie opened up with a thrilling scene of fantasy combat as Sakura and her guardians battled a fierce fiery dragon. Using her skill and striking magical powers, she was able to gracefully defeat the substantial enemy, but more enemies appeared, each more powerful than the last. Sakura managed to overcome each challenge until a bleak darkness was unleashed over the area, and the valiant magical girl seemed to have met her match until a new aid appeared. A boy in green ceremonial Chinese robes appeared behind her and grabbed hold of her magical staff.

"Cool special effects!" a boy upfront shouted.

Sakura and Syaoran nervously looked around at the crowd. Their expressions were still unreadable, so they still had no idea what the overall impression would be. They just hoped that the people would believe that it really all was just special effects. The rest of the movie played out like fairy tale with Tomoyo's smooth editing that mixed battle sequences with other events with Sakura and Syaoran that Tomoyo recorded to carry out a story. However, it was the final scene that caught everyone's attention the most, particularly Sakura and Syaoran's.

"I love you!" Sakura yelled as she jumped into Syaoran's arms from the clock tower in an all too familiar way.

"She recorded that!" Sakura and Syaoran blurted out loud in unison.

Sakura and Syaoran's shock and embarrassment was suppressed momentarily by a rousing standing ovation as the ending credits played.

"Bravo! Bravo!" Fujitaka and Sonomi said as they applauded proudly.

------

"Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura said as she and Syaoran came running into the media room.

"Sakura-chan, Li-kun, how did you like it?" Tomoyo asked, hoping it had the right effect on them.

"It was … umm …" Sakura mumbled at a loss for words, "how did you get all that footage? I mean I've never the seen the parts with Syaoran in it and especially the ending."

Tomoyo smiled as she started her explanation. "The parts with Syaoran were easy. Syaoran agreed to act them out for me this afternoon in places that I recorded you before, so I could edit that footage together with previous footage I had of you to make into a movie scene. The ending, however, was a little more difficult. I had predicted that the Void Card would end up at the highest place in town, which was the clock tower, so I set up a camera there."

"Wow, that's dedication," Kero said in awe.

"Thank you, Tomoyo-chan, you really went through a lot of trouble for us," Sakura said sincerely.

"It was all worth it because I did it all for you and Li-kun," Tomoyo answered compassionately.

Tomoyo felt relieved on the inside. Sakura and Syaoran seemed to approve of her movie, and judging by the ongoing applause outside, the whole audience did as well.

"I think I hear a curtain call," Kero said as the ovation continued, "you two should step out for the audience."

Syaoran and Sakura both nodded. "We'll be right back," Sakura said as she smiled and grabbed Syaoran's hand, and they both stepped through the curtain and onto the stage to face the loud cheers head on.

Sakura could see Sonomi and her father waving to her as she and Syaoran kneeled to bow to the crowd. It was unexpected to see all the people cheering and applauding her. She knew that they only applauded her because of her realistic, life-like performance in the movie, but it meant something more to her. She felt a small sentiment of disappointment deep within her when she thought of her magical journey as a cardcaptor and how she may have not fully received the recognition she really wanted, but now, she realized that somehow, deep within, everyone was applauding her as a cardcaptor and not just as an actress.

------

The night went on as the joyous festivities in Tomoeda continued. Syaoran had been spending time playing games with Yamazaki and talking with Sakura's dad, but he wanted to see Sakura one last time before the night was over. Searching frantically around the fair, he finally spotted her alone on the same stage at the plaza, sitting on the elevated platform while watching the fireworks display from a distance.

"Sakura?" Syaoran called her worriedly, "why are you sitting by yourself?"

"Syaoran-kun," Sakura worried face quickly turned into a forced smile, "I was just worried about us."

Syaoran sat down next to her. "Why is that?"

"After tomorrow, I won't be able to see you at least for a while. We'll both be busy with school soon, and even when we do see each other again, our feelings will have already started to fade. I don't our relationship to end like that," Sakura said as she leaned softly against Syaoran.

"The Li Clan agreed to let me move out on my own when I enter high school. I'll be able to live here again in four years. I know that sounds like a long time, but I promise I'll come to visit as much as I can," Syaoran said as he placed his arm around Sakura.

"Yeah, it will definitely be all right," Sakura said cheerfully.

Syaoran smiled as Sakura's mood seemed to improve. "You know, I have a favor to ask," he said suddenly.

"What is it?" Sakura said as she pulled herself back from her lean and looked at Syaoran directly.

"Will you come with me to the amusement park?" Syaoran said as he stood up and held his hand out to help Sakura up.

Sakura looked confused. "Aren't they closed at this hour?"

"Well, in exchange for acting out those scenes for Tomoyo, she set up a private appointment for us. Besides there was a worker there who agreed to work overtime."

------

"Welcome, step this way," the ride attendant said in a familiar voice as he showed them to the ferris wheel.

"Onii-chan?" Sakura asked surprised, "you work here, too?"

Syaoran was emotionless on the outside, but internally, he was very nervous. Tomoyo told him that she arranged a late appointment with a worker that they all knew, but he had hoped desperately it would not be Sakura's brother. He knew that Touya did not approve of his relationship with Sakura, so he feared if he would even consider letting them ride the ferris wheel alone at night.

"Well, you're just in time for the last ride of the night," Touya said as he opened a carriage for them.

"Arigatou, onii-chan," Sakura said as he stepped in.

Syaoran was about to step in next, but Touya pulled him.

A nervous silence shot between them as Touya glared into the nervous eyes of Syaoran. "You better treat her well, kid. Don't ever get into a fight with her friend and don't even mad at her. And you better not ever call her a kaijuu," Touya told him in a harsh tone as he rather rudely pushed Syaoran into the carriage.

Syaoran smiled as he took the seat across from Sakura in the small space inside. The lights soon brightened around the park, and the ride started to move. Sakura and Syaoran both looked at opposite windows as the fireworks display began to reach its grand finale. They marveled at how the luminescent glimmers in the sky stood out even more beautifully at night. As the fireworks faded, they slowly turned their attention to each other.

"Syaoran-kun," Sakura said, breaking the silence, "today really was a great day. I had so much fun that I don't know what could make it better!"

"Today was really the best day I've ever had, but…," Syaoran's voice became a hoarse whisper, "I know something that could make it better."

"Nani?" Sakura asked innocently with her eyes transfixed onto Syaoran's.

Syaoran had waited for the carriage was approaching the top of the ferris wheel. He closed his eyes slowly leaned in. Sakura blushed in surprise at first but pulled in at the last moment as their lips met for the first time.

A flash of light illuminated from Sakura's bag as the Glow Card unleashed its magic inside the carriage as Syaoran and Sakura continued their kiss around glowing orbs as bright as their future together.

------

"Sakura-san!" Fujitaka called out from downstairs, awakening Sakura from her sleep.

Sakura glanced as the clock as she rubbed her eyes. She forgot to set her alarm, and it was already past nine o'clock. "Oh no! Syaoran-kun!"

Sakura threw on some clothes and dashed out the door. "I'll be right back!" she said as she passed her father.

Touya was outside washing the new car he had gotten from college. He looked at Sakura worriedly as she sprinted past him.

"Hey, Sakura! Do you need a lift … to the airport?" he knew she would never be running that fast without a good reason.

"Arigatou gozaimasu, onii-chan!"

------

Touya pulled in at the nearest available parking space in front of the airport's entrance as Sakura immediately took off as fast she could. She raced down the lobby and finally found _him_ standing by Meiling waiting by the boarding station.

"Syaoran-kun!" she yelled as she ran up and wrapped her arms around him.

"Sakura," Syaoran said softly. This time, he was waiting for her to come.

Sakura pulled out an emerald green teddy bear from her bag and handed it to Syaoran. "Since you made one for me, I wanted to give one to you, too."

Syaoran smiled as he looked the bear. It was made with precise sowing and a lot of care and was even his favorite color. "Thank you, Sakura. I promise I'll come back for you soon."

"Yeah, we're coming here on our next holiday," Meiling said, reassuring Sakura.

Sakura felt relief until the announcement was made that the last return to Hong Kong was departing in five minutes.

"Last time I left, I didn't give you much more than a teddy bear and a promise to return last time. And now this time, all I can give you is that same promise. I'm really sorry, I wish I could do more for you," Syaoran said as held the bear with his left hand and slung his bag over his right arm.

Sakura shook her head. "You've already done so much for me. I would wait forever for you … the for the day you come to me."

Syaoran and Sakura embraced last time before their parting. As the embrace ended, Syaoran had expected it to be difficult to let go of, but he felt a warm solace in his final moments with Sakura. As he began to feel the aura of hope emitting from Sakura, he realized what had relieved his dismal feeling of loneliness.

"Syaoran!" Meiling yelled from the entrance of the airplane's front gate, "Hurry up! We're going to miss the flight!"

"You'd better get going," Sakura said as she looked into his eyes one last time, "I still have Tomoyo-chan, Kero-chan, and all my friends, but I hope you won't get lonely in Hong Kong with just Meiling-chan."

"I don't think I'll get lonely," Syaoran whispered into her ear, "because no matter where I am, I can always look up and see your star shining on me."

And with that, Syaoran had left Sakura with a promise of a little bit more than just another brief visit. He left her with hope.

THE END 


End file.
